


Don't Blueberries Belong in the Produce Section?

by DestroyThe4thWall



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dreamtale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Angst, Blueberry Is Very Gay, Blueberry is hanging on to his mind by a thread and is ready to snap, Blueberry is just about done with people's bs, Blueberry is more serious in this, Blueberry is still hanging on to hope, Don't really have anyone for beta reading sorry, Dream is trying his best to help, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I haven't planned much out yet, I'm not entirely sure how to tag things but I'm trying my best, Ink is an inconsiderate asshole, M/M, My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic, My First Undertale Fanfic, Nightmare is a tsundere, Nightmare is softer for Blueberry than he'd like to admit, Nightmare is very gay, Not Beta Read, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Rating May Change, Sans (Undertale) Has Issues, Sans (Undertale) Needs a Hug, This is going to be longer than I intended, Underswap Sans is a cashier, Underswap Sans knows more than he lets on, Unsure how long this will be or how often I'll update it, Warnings May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:56:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27677720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestroyThe4thWall/pseuds/DestroyThe4thWall
Summary: It's been a few months since the barrier was broken in Underswap, and to help make ends meet, Blue had to take a job as a cashier in a supermarket. What? He wanted to apply to be a cop, but they wouldn't let him join. Then again, after hearing about the things cops have done on the surface, it didn't seem like a good idea anymore. A toxic work environment is more likely to change you than you are to change it, after all.However, despite his best efforts, the job he got had a toxic environment, anyway. He still tries so hard to believe in people, but now this job is making it incredibly difficult. After all, if you had a bunch of customers every day get snippy with you, you'd probably start losing hope, as well. It's a wonder he's still managing to hang onto it by a thread.Meanwhile, Nightmare's totally not at all concerned about the fact that he's felt a surge of negative emotions from Blue lately. Well, should he... take a peek and find out why just this once? He doesn't actually want to help! He's just... just... uh... well, that's none of your business!
Relationships: Nightmare & Axe, Nightmare & Cross, Nightmare & Dust, Nightmare & Killer, Nightmare!Sans & Dusttale!Sans, Nightmare!Sans & Horrortale!Sans, Nightmare!Sans & Killertale!Sans, Nightmare!Sans & Xtale!Sans, Nightmare/Blue - Relationship, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Papyrus & Sans (Undertale), Sans & Sans (Undertale), Sans/Sans (Undertale), Underswap!Sans & Dream!Sans, Underswap!Sans & Ink!Sans, Underswap!Sans & Underswap!Papyrus, Underswap!Sans/Nightmare!Sans, nightberry
Comments: 77
Kudos: 125





	1. A Close Save

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Finally_Free](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finally_Free/gifts).



> Edit: I got so caught-up in this concept that I realized I forgot I should credit the original creators of the AUs and their characters, oops.
> 
> **Underswap and Underfell** :  
> Near as I can tell, the original creators of both of these no longer want anything to do with them and now these AUs belong to the Undertale AU community
> 
> **Dreamtale** :  
> [Jokublog's Tumblr](https://jokublog.tumblr.com/)
> 
> **Xtale (and by extension, Underverse?)** :  
> [Jakei95's Tumblr](https://jakei95.tumblr.com/)  
> [Jakei's Xtale and Underverse Tumblr](https://xtaleunderverse.tumblr.com/)  
> [Jakei's YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/user/oshaicatboys)
> 
> **Killertale** :  
> [Rahafwabas's Tumblr](https://rahafwabas.tumblr.com/)  
> [Rahafwabas's art Tumblr](https://rahofy-sketch.tumblr.com/)
> 
> **Horrortale** :  
> [Sour Apple Studios's Twitter](https://twitter.com/SourAppleTweets)  
> [Sour Apple Studios's DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/sour-apple-studios)  
> [Sour Apple Studios's Horrortale Comic Tumblr](https://horrortalecomic.tumblr.com/)  
> [Sour Apple Studios's YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/user/SourApple2008)
> 
> **Dusttale** :  
> [Dusttale's Tumblr](https://twitter.com/dust_tale2)  
> [Dusttale's Twitter](https://ask-dusttale.tumblr.com/)
> 
> **Ink!Sans** :  
> [Comyet/Mye Bi's Inktale FAQ](https://comyet.tumblr.com/post/132998265968/i-n-k-t-a-l-e)  
> [Mye Bi's main Tumblr](https://myebi.tumblr.com/)  
> [Mye Bi's Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/mye_bi/)  
> [Mye Bi's Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mye_Bi)
> 
> **Errortale** :  
> [Loverofpiggies/Crayon Queen's Tumblr](https://loverofpiggies.tumblr.com/)  
> [Crayon Queen's Ask Error Tumblr (no longer appears to be in use)](https://askerrorsans.tumblr.com/)
> 
> UGH- I draw and worry about art theft myself already, despite not even posting many drawings anymore, so I SHOULD have thought to put this here sooner. So, uh, I apologize for that. :') To both the creators of these AUs and their characters, and to anyone that might need info on any of the characters included here.
> 
> \----------------------
> 
> Hello! As you can likely tell, this is my first fanfic I've written. I don't know how often I'll update this, but this is something I enjoyed writing. And, to the person I'm gifting this to, I hope you like it and I hope your birthday went well! This took longer than I anticipated so this is a little late, oops.
> 
> Also, not sure how to write Karens well. :'D But I did my best.
> 
> Name of the piece, the rating, and the warnings are subject to change!

His shift was ending in less than an hour, but time was passing far too slowly for Blue's liking. He was having a rougher day than usual, and that's saying something. He knew this job was going to be incredibly difficult on his emotional state, but Stars, he still wasn't expecting it to be **this** bad!

As far as he was concerned, this job didn't come with many benefits, and even the benefits themselves had drawbacks.

For one, the pay was ridiculously low and made worse because he could only work for a few hours on any given day, but it was better than nothing. His brother somehow managed to make just enough money to cover the rest of their costs.

The remaining benefits are for his main job, and even those are questionable at best. As a Star Sans, he finds himself fighting the Dark Sanses quite frequently for the sake of the multiverse. Or Evil Sanses, but he didn't want to think of any of them as "evil," either. Regardless, his pent-up frustration as a cashier in a supermarket meant he held back less than he used to. Killing and severely hurting any of them was still off the table for him, but this at least meant fights were over more quickly. However, on days like this, it was a bad idea to try and piss him off further, pardon the language. Why? Well, let's just say he occasionally scared himself and leave it at that for now.

Lastly, insults were rarely directed at him during fights, but he was able to handle them far more easily when they were. He used to get incredibly self-conscious from them, but now you'd have to really try to insult him just to faze him at all. Chances are, he's heard far worse from entitled customers at this job.

His thoughts were interrupted when the next customer approached the register. He gave her the best smile he possibly could. "Did you find everything alright, ma'am?" He asked as he started to scan and bag her items.

She nodded, looking at her phone and barely paying attention to him at all. "Mhm." That was her only reply.

Blue sighed quietly and continued the tedious process of scanning and bagging, scanning and bagging, scanning and bagging. Once he finished that, he read her the total. "$29.13"

Unsurprisingly, this is when she chooses to look up. "Actually, I have a few coupons I wanted to use today." She reached into her purse, pulled out a few coupons, and handed them to Blue. Great. More stuff to scan. How fun.

However, Blue had to look them over first. And then he sighed. Again. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but these coupons expired a few days ago. You can't use these anymore." He attempted to hand them back.

Instead of taking the coupons, she glared at him like he had just insulted her entire family, including her cat. Just what he needed! "Excuse me, what?" She gave him a rather annoyed laugh. "But the store on the other side of Ebott City will take them!"

Nice try, but Blue knew better than to believe that. That store is still within the same district as this one, and the district manager has stated a number of times to employees that expired coupons aren't allowed to be taken. Either she was lying or they weren't doing their jobs right. Not that he was going to mention the possibility of that latter option. He could feel himself growing more and more frustrated. "This isn't that store. I don't know what else to tell you. I'm sorry." Actually, he's too tired of dealing with entitlement to be sorry and he definitely had some things to say to her. However, he wasn't exactly looking to get fired.

Oh, what a plot twist! She didn't like that answer at all and started getting in his face and yelling. "I don't have the time to go over there right now! I have children to feed at home!" She jabbed a finger in his face. "Just take the damn coupons already instead of wasting my time and everyone will be happy!" Entitlement like this is a lot of why he's finding it difficult to believe in people now.

Blue had to clench his teeth quite a bit to stop himself from yelling at her right back. Stars, just let him do his job!

Almost immediately after, a portal opened behind the customer. All he could see coming through it was a black, drippy tentacle as it grabbed this ~~Karen's~~ customer's shoulder.

"Shut the hell up and either pay or put shit back, or else you'll leave without any of it." That voice could only belong to one person. Was he hallucinating? He had to be. After all, there's no way he'd do something like that.

The woman jumped as she looked behind her to see who was speaking. She seemed like she wanted to scream, but froze instead. After a few moments, she nodded and dug out her debit card. Okay, guess he's not hallucinating. At least he probably won't have to argue with this person anymore.

Blue sighed, sounding annoyed. However, it was really a sigh of relief. Confused, but relieved that Nightmare tried to help. Right? He could feel himself start blushing. "Uh... I had this situation under control, but thanks?" Another lie. He absolutely needed the help. Now he was worried this customer or any others would call the police on him because of what Nightmare did.

There was a moment of hesitation before the tentacle retracted and the portal closed. He questioned if that really was Nightmare that helped, but had to yank himself back to reality for now. He looked up at the customer and pointed the the pin pad. "Just swipe your card here when you're ready."

In that moment, all she could manage to do was glance at him and do as he said. Once the payment was accepted, she rushed to her bags and grabbed them before heading out the door.

Blue looked over, smiled, and waved. "Have a good day!" At least he could manage a more genuine smile now.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

Once he was finally free to clock out and head home, it came as no surprise that Blue did exactly that as quickly as he could. Especially after a day like this, there was no way he'd want to spend another second in this hellhole. Again, pardon the language.

He sighed for what had to have been the 1,000th time today. Actually, maybe more than that. There was no denying how he felt when Nightmare showed up, but it still seemed so out of character for him. Was he planning something? Well, he probably is, but what would helping Blue with that customer have anything to do with it? Why help him with that? Why help him in general?

Whatever was going on, there was one thing he was certain of. Today still sucked as a whole. Now, will he head straight to bed to scream and cry into his pillow, or will he change into more comfortable clothes, try the ice cream Dream got for him, eat it regardless of how it actually tastes to him because he hasn't had a chance to eat in a while, and then flop on his bed and scream into his pillow? He'd have to see when he got home.

☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 

Normally, he'd be quite amused by a surge of negative emotions from someone, but for whatever reason, he didn't like it at all when that person was Blue. He's been feeling a steady increase in negative emotions from him for weeks now. It started out with him feeling rather, well, blue. However, that gradually changed to mild to moderate annoyance and sometimes even barely contained fury. He wanted to find out why, but figured he shouldn't spy on him to find out. Not that he's concerned about Blue hating him or anything! It just... seems weird! Yeah! It would just be weird! But why was he letting himself think about this in the first place?!

"You thinking about your _boyfriend_ over there, Nighty?" Dust asked in a mocking manner. He snickered when Nightmare glared at him.

Nightmare growled and somewhat harshly shoved him. "Go to hell." He could hear everyone's stifled laughter echoing through the room. Except for Dust, who was now busy on the floor laughing his ass off. Ugh, and now he could feel himself blushing.

Once he noticed that telltale glow on his face, Axe leaned on the table and smirked. "Aw, is Nighty concerned about his little Blueberry?" He only had a brief opportunity to laugh before he had an encyclopedia thrown in his direction. "Oh shi-" he barely managed to duck in time. Damn it, his skull was damaged enough! So, Axe and everyone else took the hint and shut up. Except for Dust. Guess what he's doing.

"Okay, let's focus again already!" The room finally fell silent when Dust forced himself to stop laughing and took his seat at the table again. Nightmare didn't have to read his emotions or even look at him to know he was about to say something stupid again. "Dust, keep your mouth shut." He tuned out his chuckling, and instead rolled his eyes and turned to Cross. "So, what have you worked out about this Underfell timeline so far?"

Cross jumped a little before pulling out his notebook and flipping to a particular page. "Right. So, first..."

☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 

After the meeting was over, Nightmare finally felt free to teleport back to his room. He walked over to the chair by his bookshelf and sat down. While he was browsing his collection, he remembered what he was thinking about Blue earlier. So, he stopped and focused on what Blue was feeling. For no particular reason.

Needless to say, he totally wasn't at all worried when he felt that Blue was getting incredibly pissed off and reaching his breaking point. It couldn't be another person angering Blueber- uh, Blue, right?

He focused on getting Blue's location and then opened a portal somewhere on the floor beside him. Oh, so it _was_ another person causing this. That bitch, contributing to ruining Blue's day. Not that he's concerned or anything.

Next thing he knew, he closed that portal and then opened a tiny one behind this woman, just big enough for him to reach his tentacle out and grab her shoulder. He didn't want to show himself any more than that. Gotta have at least a small sense of anonymity. Then, he essentially threatened to throw her out of the store without any of her groceries if she didn't pay now or put stuff back so she could pay less.

When he heard Blue tell him he had things under control, he hesitated for a moment. Obviously, he was lying. He needed help or else he was going to outright snap. But, he decided to pull his tentacle back through the portal and close it. What came over him just now? Why did he just tell a customer off on his behalf? There's... there's no way he likes Blue in the way his underlings think, right? As soon as he felt himself blush, he groaned in frustration and buried his face in his hands.

How exactly was he going to handle this?


	2. An Ice Way to End the Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue comes home from work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be quite honest, I was _not_ expecting this to get as much attention as it has! Thank you so much! I'm looking forward to writing more of this! ^^ But it's been almost three weeks, hasn't it? Sorry about that. I still haven't ironed out how I want to schedule things. I'm thinking of maybe releasing chapters at my own pace to reduce stress, and that would mean sporadic updates. :') I'm also a perfectionist, so that's been getting to me for this. Figured I should post this now and hope for the best, though.
> 
> Also, I know the winter holidays are just around the corner. If I do a special chapter or something, it likely won't be centered around holidays as much as it would probably just involve snowball fights and skeletons goofing off in general. Would that be okay? I'd aim for at least posting something like that before January, but I wouldn't be able to guarantee anything.

Generally, Blue walked to work every day for multiple reasons. A, he didn't have a license. B, he didn't have to walk far. And finally, C, he just preferred walking. Sadly, today, he had to run home in the rain after his shift, and the seven minutes that took felt like an eternity.

When he got home and walked inside, he stood in front of the door for a moment to contemplate what he should do next. Ugh. It seemed like the universe was out to get him. Why? What the hell did he do to deserve this? Yeah, this was definitely a go-scream-in-a-pillow-immediately day.

With his mind made up, he headed for his bed right away for that therapeutic screaming session. Wet and cold clothes be damned.

Once he reached his bedroom, he flicked the light on and made a beeline for the bed. Whatever, the door could stay open. His brother was still at work and he had so few fucks to give right now.

He flopped on the mattress and instantly pressed the pillow against his face. And he screamed. And he screamed. And he screamed. During this, his pillow started to feel damp, and most of it wasn't because he was soaked from the rain. Eventually, the cause registered with him. Oh, how delightful! Crying! Everyone's favorite pastime! He knew it was healthier to cry and let it all out instead of bottling everything up, but that sure as hell didn't mean he liked crying, either. Crying when you're pissed off is the worst.

His reaction to this was totally the same as anyone else's would be. Instead of just screaming into his pillow, he also started screaming a string of curse words into it. If you asked him about his thoughts on swearing months ago, he would've stated there was never a reason for that type of language. A lot can change in just a few months.

Even if Nightmare helped him and that meant he got to see his crush, his day still sucked as a whole. Sadly enough, that cute, goopy skeleton's actions didn't do much to alleviate the frustration he had with that Karen toward the end of his shift. Nor that one guy before her who got mad at him because one brand of pepperoni pizza was out of stock. Stars, this couldn't be real, could it? Humans weren't actually that rude to people just trying to do their job, right?

He sighed and laid motionless with his pillow. He didn't want to have to deal with this bullshit again tomorrow. The only thing he felt grateful for in that moment was the fact that Papyrus wasn't going to walk in and see th-

"Knock knock!" Okay, never mind. This has the potential to be much worse.

Blue grumbled as he slowly pulled his head off the pillow. He turned on his side, glaring toward the door. "Is there something you need, Ink?" Way to go! Nice voice crack!

Ink stood still in the doorway and frowned. He was quiet for a moment, then laughed nervously and leaned against the door frame. "That bad, huh?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Guess I can't tell you to say 'who's there.'" Despite his effort, he clearly didn't manage to ease the tension in the atmosphere. He picked at the paint peeling off the door frame and continued, "It's a little worrying that you've perfected a glare like that in as little as a few weeks, by the way." Oh, there's a way to make it worse.

Blue hugged his pillow tightly and sniffled. His voice was barely above a whisper. "Words can't even describe how terrible my day was." He probably should have addressed Ink's last comment, but in typical Blue fashion, he chose not to.

After a moment, Ink walked over to Blue, sat down on the floor by the bed, and glanced at him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He winced. "Not right now. Maybe later." Once he realized he was tearing up again, he tried to wipe the tears away with his sleeve. As one might reasonably expect, this didn't work out too well. Damn rain. He groaned in annoyance.

His friend watched him try in vain to dry his face, then turned his gaze over to the closet. "I'm gonna get you a change of clothes. Those can't feel comfortable right now." He paused for a second before looking back and chuckled quietly. "Did you forget you could teleport home or what?"

How could he have been so stupid to forget something like that? He facepalmed. "Yes, I forgot. I don't teleport much to begin with, so..." He trailed off and he slowly sat up and turned to Ink. "And, uh, you don't have to do anything for me." At that moment, he realized one of his sleeves had twisted and began arguing with it, muttering more swears in the process. It took everything he had to keep from yelling about it right then and there. It was a relatively minor problem on its own, but with all his major ones, even something like this was starting to become unbearable.

Ink patted Blue on the head and grinned. "Nope, I don't have to get you anything!" He laughed, "But I also wasn't asking you!" He rushed over to the closet and opened it, muttering to himself the whole time.

The only thing Blue could do now was watch. He had mixed feelings about this. Part of him was glad Ink took it upon himself to help, but part of him felt guilty for it. He didn't want Ink to get him a change of clothes, of all things! That was Blue's responsibility! Of course, he didn't have the energy to get up right now. Even if he did, he wouldn't be able to stop his friend from trying to help.

"Aha!" Ink pulled out a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of pants, both fluffy and light blue. He set the clothes on a spot of the bed that wasn't wet and turned back to him with a smile. "Just come out to the kitchen once you've changed! Dream wants you to try that ice cream he got you tonight."

Blue gave him the best smile he could and a thumbs-up. "Alright, will do. And, uh, thank you."

Apparently, his smile wasn't very reassuring. Ink's own smile faltered and his eyebrows furrowed as he waved to Blue and walked out.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

It took longer than Blue expected just to get out of bed, but he managed. It definitely felt better to wear the dry and fluffy clothes instead of his work uniform. Some part of him wanted to wait until it was dry and then burn it, but thankfully, a part of him with common sense knew better. He still wasn't looking to get fired, no pun intended. Instead, he took it and hung it up in the bathroom and then made his way over to the kitchen.

As Blue sluggishly walked in and rubbed his eye sockets, his other friend greeted him. "Hey, Blue." Dream's voice was very gentle. Damn, he was worried too, wasn't he? "Are you feeling any better? I don't know the details, but I heard things had gone extra bad for you today."

Yeah, no kidding. Of course, he wasn't going to say that. Not only were they his friends, but Ink found him dry clothes and Dream bought him ice cream. It would be incredibly rude to respond that way after all they've done for him, even if the help was minimal. "Uh, yes, thank you." He chuckled nervously, "I'm still dreading going back to work tomorrow, though."

Dream stared at him for a second before smiling slightly. "I know this has to be difficult for you, but the fact that you're still sticking with it is something I admire about you. No matter how difficult life gets for you, you always find a reason to keep going." He walked to the freezer and pulled the ice cream out as he spoke, "Heck, you're a lot of the reason I choose not to give up on anything easily, and I'm supposed to be the embodiment of positivity!"

Did Dream actually mean that, or was he just trying to cheer Blue up? There's no way he was being entirely truthful. Right? It could only be as likely as Nightmare liking him back, surely.

Blue's thoughts were interrupted by Ink's exclamation from the counter, "Exactly! I know I would've quit by now."

At their praise, Blue sighed and shook his head. "The thing is, unlike you guys, I don't have as much of a choice as you might think. I literally need this job to make sure my brother and I live." He shuffled over to the counter. "I don't hate much about the surface, but if there's one thing I do hate, it's being stuck in a customer service job and being unable to do anything about it. I can't even pursue a true career here." After a pause, he looked at his friends and cracked a small smile. "But at least I still get to help you guys save the multiverse." Doing both was hard, but having the opportunity to help with something so big helped give him a sense of purpose. Okay, saving the multiverse was really just high-risk volunteer work because no one was paying them to do it, but still.

"It's still admirable that you're able to stick with it at all, whether or not it's out of necessity." Dream set the ice cream on the counter by Ink, then turned to Blue and poked his forehead with a cheery smile. "And for that reason, I doubt you'd turn down one of your favorite dessert foods." He still didn't seem to fully understand, but at least his soul was in the right place.

Ink grinned, golden stars in his eyes. "It's the perfect reward for dealing with shitty customers all day!" He paused a moment to think and then turned to Dream. "Oh, hey, I've been meaning to ask. How did you even get the money to buy that? I know we don't get paid for saving the multiverse." Huh. That was a valid question, actually. "Oh, and what flavor is it?" Ah, typical Ink. He tried to lean forward to get a better look at the container, and Blue stepped in front of the counter to get a look as well. Blue moon ice cream? An oddly fitting name, but that still doesn't describe the flavor.

"Uh..." Dream blushed and fidgeted with the pin on his cape before he answered, "Well, I took a walk around here yesterday while none of the universes were being attacked, and, uh, I found a $10 bill on the sidewalk." He looked around, hands behind his back. "No one else was around so I, uh... I-I pocketed the money." He hesitated before continuing, "Earlier today, I tried to find something for Blue at one of the stores around here. This was in the freezer aisle, so I bought it because it sounded interesting, I guess?" He finally stopped with a nervous laugh.

Ink tried to comfort him, in the only way Ink knew how. "Dream, who cares about you pocketing the bill? The person that lost it probably never even realized it was gone. Besides, you could've spent the money on something way worse instead of trying to buy a gift for our friend." The two kinds of people in the multiverse!

Blue giggled quietly and shook his head. "Hey, you little cinnamon roll, it was $10, and it's not like you stole their driver's license and ID." He smiled and patted Dream's shoulder. "Thank you."

Dream sighed, "Uh, you're welcome, Blue. I-I just have mixed feelings about this, is all." He lightly slapped his own cheeks and shook his head. "But if nothing else, I shouldn't dwell on this. Nightmare will just get stronger from the negativity."

It was Blue's turn to blush. He looked away, trying to hide it. "Uh, yeah, that would probably be best." Yeah, no way in hell he'd tell Dream about what happened earlier.

After a few long seconds of awkward silence, Ink spoke up again. "Wait, Blue, did you ever scold me for saying you have to deal with 'shitty customers?'"

Blue took the opportunity to get Nightmare off his mind and turned to Ink. "No. Was I supposed to?" He didn't want to say it outright and he felt a little bad about it, but he agreed with Ink. "It's not like I can say my language has been squeaky-clean lately, either. I mean, you don't know how many times I swore while getting ready this morning. After Pap left, anyway."

Ink laughed. "Fair enough!" Of course that would be his reaction.

"Well, uh, Blue, do you mind if I try the ice cream with you?" At least Dream was redirecting the conversation and wasn't asking about Nightmare. Not now, anyway. It was bound to happen eventually.

He glanced at Dream. "I mean, even if it's a gift for me, you still bought it." He gave him a semi-awkward smile. "It wouldn't be right to stop you."

"Oh! What about me?" Ink laughed. "You gonna leave me out of this?" There were the golden stars again.

Blue turned to Ink and sighed quietly before answering, "Well, I won't stop you, either." He chuckled.

It took Ink a moment, but he shrugged and replied, "Nah, I don't want ice cream right now." Ink, what the hell? Why did you ask, then? He laughed and hopped off the counter. "But I still call scooping it!" Of course. He started opening and shutting drawers, presumably looking for that ice cream scoop.

Well, if they're going to divvy up the tasks like this, Blue figured he'd participate. "I call getting the bowls!" He nearly had to climb the counter to reach the cupboard, but he still managed to grab a few in less than a minute. The kinds of things you learn to do when you're short. As he set the bowls out by the ice cream, he looked at Ink, stifling some laughter, "And Ink? The ice cream scoop is in that drawer." He pointed to the same drawer the silverware was in, which was of course beside the first drawer Ink checked.

His scatterbrained friend turned to him once he heard his name. "What?" He ran over once he processed what was said. "Oh, thank you!" He grabbed what he was looking for, and unsurprisingly didn't bother to grab any of the spoons that were also right there.

Dream shook his head, but he was smiling. "I guess I'll get the spoons." He glanced over at how many bowls were set out and raised an eyebrow. "Since Ink doesn't want any, I'm guessing that extra bowl is for your brother?"

Blue answered his friend with a shrug, "Well, yeah. Who else would it be for?" Hopefully, he wasn't implying anything.

Dream blinked before nodding and shrugging in return. He set a spoon in each bowl, then turned back to Ink and smirked playfully. "You done scooping it yet?" he asked, knowing he obviously wasn't. In fact, Ink hadn't even started.

Ink stifled his laughter. "Stars, who are you? A 4-year-old on a road trip?"

Blue couldn't pass up this opportunity to be mildly annoying, so he bounced over to Ink and poked his shoulder repeatedly. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" He asked over and over again with a mischievous glint in his socket.

That earned a playful glare from his friend. "Wow, this is the thanks I get for helping you earlier? Keep this up, and your ice cream's mine!" He stuck his tongue out at Blue.

"You sure about that?" He taunted, with a wide grin on his face. He knew Ink wasn't going to eat it, but he knew he might have to pry the bowl away from him, regardless.

Once he was done with the first bowl, Ink picked it up and acted like he was going to eat the contents, but then he instead got on one knee and presented the bowl as if he were offering a sword to a knight. "I present your bowl of frozen sugar." His stifled laughter lightly shook the bowl.

Blue quickly picked it up before Ink dropped it. "Thank you, my friend, for your gracious offer!" He smirked. "Is this you begging forgiveness for threatening my precious bowl of frozen sugar?"

All three of them laughed right as Papyrus walked into the kitchen. "Oh, hey guys." He pulled a white stick out of his mouth and tossed it in the trash, then walked over to the counter. "Whatcha doing?"

Blue turned to Papyrus and beamed. "Eating ice cream!" Somehow, he knew he had blue stars in his eyes again. That must've been the first time in weeks. "Want any? I know you have more of a sweet tooth than I do." He tried a bite of it, then his sockets widened and he bounced up and down in place with a huge smile on his face. "It tastes like marshmallows!"

Papyrus chuckled half-heartedly. "You say that like you didn't know what flavor it was." He glanced over at the container on the counter. There was a short pause. "Oh, I guess you didn't." He eyed Dream and Ink suspiciously. It pained Blue to know he still didn't trust his friends. "Sure, guess I'll try some." He shrugged. It seemed like he trusted them not to poison the ice cream, at least.

Ink handed Papyrus the second bowl of ice cream in a similar way he handed the first to Blue. "Your bowl of cold, marshmallow-flavored..." he was stumbling over his words. "...dairy product or something, I dunno," he giggled.

At this, Papyrus sighed quietly with a small smile on his face and took the bowl. "Uh, thanks."

Ink stood back up and smiled widely. "You're welcome!" He repeated the process for Dream, except he just passed it to him normally. "Here."

Dream gasped and dramatically slapped a hand on his chest as if offended while he took his bowl. "Wow, Ink! You'll present Blue and Papyrus's bowls so respectfully, but you won't do that for me?"

"Ink! That's awfully rude!" Blue giggled, "After everything he's done for you?"

"Yeah, Blue, maybe show Dream some respect." Ink could barely hold himself back from laughing long enough to get that reply out.

The kitchen was suddenly filled with laughter from the short skeletons. Papyrus just shook his head and chuckled. "You're all goofballs," he muttered.

Blue put a hand on his hip as he poked his brother. "So says another goofball." He smiled when Papyrus chuckled at him. Though small, it seemed like for once, his smile was real.

Too bad he still had to go to work the next day, but sharing ice cream and laughs that night with some of the people he cared about brought a sense of comfort for the time being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scavenger hunt time~ So far, I've hidden 2 numbers in the story for symbolism, but there will be a total of 4 of them. Can anyone find the ones I've used so far and guess their meanings? And does anyone have any guesses for what the other important numbers will be?  
> Hint 1: Since meanings for things like this can vary depending on where you live, I'll mention that I live in the US (sadly).  
> Hint 2: 2 numbers are good, 2 are bad.  
> Hint 3: All 4 are within the 0-20 range!
> 
> AND! ONE LAST THING BECAUSE I REALLY WANNA SHARE THESE! If you want to, feel free to ask about the relationships certain characters have with each other and I'll try my best to respond with a video! If it's a longer video, I'll include timestamps. I'll try to give a vague description as well, regardless of if I can find a good video for them. I don't know, it just seems fun. And it's a way to share these without giving away anything.
> 
> Your options for the characters right now are:
> 
> Blue  
> Dream  
> Ink  
> Nightmare  
> Cross  
> Axe  
> Killer  
> Dust  
> Error
> 
> Heads-up, btw: One of Nightmare's little buddies has a pet tarantula. I'm afraid of spiders and bugs in general, so I knew I should put this here before she makes an appearance or anything. Like most spiders, she's pretty shy and won't bite unless someone else provokes her. Her first instinct would be to hide or run away, though. Usually hide, since she's almost always in her enclosure. Biting apparently takes a lot of energy for a spider, so you probably won't see her bite anyone, and it'll be even less likely that she'll bite using venom.


	3. It's Kinda Snowy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snowball fight!

They only just arrived, but Blue already wanted to go home and play video games instead. Stars, of all places, why an Underfell timeline? He dealt with enough rudeness this week. If he had to deal with yet another person getting pissy with him over something stupid, he was actually going to punch someone this time. The universe better not test him.

"What did you guys say was happening?" As much as he knew he shouldn't, he hoped Nightmare and his buddies were why they were here. He couldn't wait to see Nightmare's cute face again. Maybe it would get his mind off the customer who bought three boxes of Ramen and casually mentioned how bad college debt is like it was just an everyday fact of life. They weren't rude, thankfully, but that was depressing to hear. Partly because he hoped he could get a better job with some sort of degree. Preferably one where he never had to talk to people at work again, ever.

Wait, no, go back to thinking about Nightmare!

"Nightmare's apparently just idling around here somewhere and making people scared just because of that, suspicious activity, blah blah blah, yadda yadda, I don't remember the rest." Ugh, Ink's lack of memory was bad enough, but the lack of empathy was even wor- did he say Nightmare was there?

Blue hid his face in his bandana. He couldn't let his friends see him blushing at that news, but he knew Dream would pick up on his emotions. He had no say in that matter.

While they were running, Dream looked at Ink like a fed-up teacher would look at a smart-alec student. He shook his head and watched where he was running once again. "Nightmare's somewhere around here, and I believe he's near or on a bench. From what I could tell, he and his buddies are pretty much just... there. He might not be doing anything," he glanced at Blue as he continued, "but that's all the more reason to be worried about what he's up to."

Right. Worried. Yeah, Blue was worried alright. Just not for the reason he should've been, according to Dream.

They all turned a corner, and sure enough, Nightmare was sitting on a bench while his buddies were either throwing snowballs at each other or arguing. Blue had to stop himself from giggling at the sight. He could never say it out loud, but he thought they were rather adorable. At least until he was more concerned about the two who seemed to be having a heated argument.

"For the last time, Killer, Earth isn't a truncated icosahedron, it's a regular icosahedron, and it revolves around all editions of DnD, not some dumb soccer goal!" Cross and Killer didn't actually believe these things, right? Wait, they were smiling. They're not serious. Thank Stars.

Killer laughed, "No no no, you've got it all wrong! Earth is a donut and it revolves around a box." He acted like he was thinking by cocking his head and tapping his chin. "Or was it an oven?" Killer stopped once he noticed Blue and his friends sprinting over. "Looks like we'll have to make fun of Flat-Earthers again later."

Dream summoned his bow and drew it back, aiming it at Nightmare. "What are you planning to do, Nightmare? It isn't like you to just sit around in an AU like this."

Nightmare didn't even look at his brother as he chuckled and shrugged. "Would you prefer my employees and I terrorized the town?" He stood up and rolled his eye, then flashed a smug grin at him. Dang it, Nightmare shouldn't be that hot, especially not after saying something like that. "But, I suppose you know things are bad when the Prince of Negativity knows more about lightening up than the Prince of Positivity."

Wow, he was really just going to roast his brother like that, huh? Blue couldn't think of anything to say to defend his best friend, but he really wished he could. Sadly, he was too flustered to think of anything.

Before Dream had time to snap, Dust ran over and patted Nightmare's shoulder, then pointed to him. "We bugged the shit out of the octopus about having a snowball fight somewhere, and he finally gave in so we'd stop." He snickered. "I'm pretty sure it was also because he wanted to see a certain Bl-"

In a flash, Nightmare wrapped his tentacle around Dust's head to cover his mouth. Not suspicious in the slightest. Hey, were his sockets deceiving him, or was Nightmare's face a lighter shade of blue?

Nightmare cleared his throat, or at least made the noise for it. "Yes, I came here with my employees because they wouldn't shut up about doing something fun. That, and they were incredibly bored, and I don't want to have to deal with these guys when they're bored again." He sighed and muttered, "I swear, these chaos children will be the death of me someday."

While Nightmare was glaring at the skeleton who was evidently basking in the glory of annoying his boss, Cross stepped closer. "Yeah, even I wanted to come out here for this, and I've become a bit of a workaholic lately." He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, almost as if that just slipped out of his mouth.

Blue had so many questions. Okay, only a few, but he still wasn't sure if he wanted any of them to be answered.

More than likely, they had ulterior motives, but the sound of a snowball fight was incredibly tempting. Especially after he had such a long week. He glanced over toward Dream and Ink to see how they were reacting to this. Dream still had his bow drawn, but thankfully, he was more relaxed than he was before. Ink hadn't even pulled out his brush in preparation for a fight this whole time, and Blue couldn't help but notice the snowball behind his back. Alright, so they wouldn't have a say in the matter soon, but when did he make that and how did no one else notice? Eh, maybe he shouldn't sweat small details like that.

"A snowball fight sounds fun!" Not even a second later, Ink threw the hidden ammo he had directly at Axe.

Axe yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards. He brushed his shoulder off, then smirked and pointed at Ink. "Oh, it's on!"

Blue and most of the rest of the Sanses immediately sought cover and started packing snow into snowballs. He looked over at Dream, who was just standing there. He seemed to be at a loss for what to do. "Aw, come on, Dream! It's just a snowball fight." Blue smiled. Please, friend, let him have this.

Dream was silent for a moment before he sighed and gave in. He ran behind an oddly-convenient and decorative boulder with a plaque on it, presumably to prepare his ammo.

☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Half an hour later, Dust was starting to get bored. Not because the snowball fight was boring, he just felt like he hadn't done enough to annoy anyone. And by 'anyone,' he meant Night.

So, he looked over at where Night was standing. He walked several feet behind him and a little to the side with a snowball and threw it directly at his shoulder. When Night glared back at him, Dust shrugged and smirked. "Sorry, Night. Guess I forgot friendly fire was a thing for a moment."

Night just narrowed his eye at him shook his head before turning back to what he was doing. Dust burst out laughing. It was fun to piss him off when he knew he could get away with it.

Near as he could tell, he was ironically the only one doing his job for once and trying to survey the area. Still, he was only doing the bare minimum. The only things of note that he could see were a Grillby's across the street and a police station a few blocks down.

Ah, screw it, the snowball fight was much more entertaining.

Night had thrown the most snowballs at Blue, to no one's surprise. That tsundere. At least neither of them truly seemed to mind this.

"Hey, no head shots!" He turned to see who yelled. Ink had snow all over his face and a very fake angry expression. Dust looked over to where he guessed Ink was looking.

It was made easier for Dust to find out who did it when Axe started laughing. "That's your own fault! I was aiming for your chest and you ducked!"

Dust had to stifle his laughter at this. Great going, Ink! Dumbass.

While he could, he took cover behind a tree near Night and Blue. If you wanted to call it that. The tree was so thin, it didn't actually provide much cover. At least that's not the real reason he got behind it.

Eavesdropping on these two again should prove entertaining. He heard some very interesting things earlier, mainly Blue complaining about his job and Night telling stories about some dumb shit his 'employees' have done.

To try and seem like he wasn't listening, he started packing snow together, albeit slowly.

"So, uh, Nightmare..." Wait. Stars, don't let this be something serious. "I know you don't have a customer service job, but have you ever had the misfortune of dealing with someone you might consider to be 'a Karen?' Before last Thursday, anyway?"

Dust breathed a sigh of relief before he heard Night stop in his tracks and fall silent. Oh, don't tell him Night had no clue what he meant by that!

"'A Karen?' I thought Karen was just a name."

Upon hearing Night's response, Dust could swear he felt part of his soul die right there.

Another pause, then a nervous chuckle. Dust glanced over as Blue spoke up again. "Well, that is true! But the way it was described to me, 'Karen' is also used as a nickname for 'a suburban white woman who's also probably raising at least one demon child, believes vaccines cause something called autism, and always act entitled to things they can't or shouldn't have.' Their words, not mine."

Once he saw the opportunity, that explanation was followed shortly by Blue throwing a snowball at Night's leg and Night dodging it.

From where he was watching and listening, Dust couldn't see Night's face, but he knew Night had to have been blinking in confusion upon hearing this. Then, he laughed. "That's awfully specific. And it's name-calling." He could hear the smirk in his voice, and from Blue's blushing, he could only guess Night was actually smirking. He never understood why some people found that attractive.

Blue's sockets widened and he stumbled over his next words. "Y-you would think it's really specific, but it's not." He crossed his arms and looked away. "And I probably wouldn't have believed this before I started my hellish job as a cashier, b-but quite honestly, they deserve it." Blue put his face in his hands and groaned before he continued, "Someone like that even came in today and started yelling at me because she thought I forgot to give her a quarter she was owed."

Night's tentacles started twitching upon hearing this. He growled. "You're joking. You have to be joking."

He took extra care not to hurt Blue as he threw another snowball at him. And he claims he doesn't have a crush on him. Dust chuckled at this quietly.

Blue humorlessly giggled. "Sadly, no, I'm not joking." He smirked and stifled some laughter. "But it was pretty funny to see the look on her face when she realized the quarter she thought was missing was just wrapped in one of the bills I gave her." He giggled, for real this time. "Oh, she was so embarrassed! It almost made my day."

Dust's eye sockets widened a little when he realized how long he'd been eavesdropping without doing anything. Oh, it had to be obvious to everyone else. He stood back up and threw a snowball at Ink. This time, he made sure to make it look like he was only participating in the snowball fight and not being nosy.

"'Almost?'" Night chuckled and visibly relaxed. "So, not quite?"

If Blue's face wasn't blue before, it sure turned blue then. "Well, no, but," he smiled and looked away before he continued, "t-the fact that I'm here with you right now and just having a fun snowball fight c-certainly has."

Finally! Someone was flirting! It took them long enough! As much as it might not seem like something he would do, Dust had to fight the urge to audibly cheer for them. That would only make them both die of embarrassment and make it all the more obvious he was listening.

Night froze in place as he processed this information. "Uh... same to you, I suppose?"

Oh, come on! He sounded like he was barely trying to be polite so he didn't hurt his crush's feelings. Well, to be fair, that's a lot for Night, but still.

Blue just blinked and tossed his ammo toward him. It hit the ground in front of him instead. He fidgeted with his glove and laughed nervously. "Well! That's! Nice to hear!"

Shit, his anxiety shot through the roof. Way to go, Night! You're such a smooth-brain when it come to romance and accepting you have feelings for someone. Which was news to absolutely no one in the history of the multiverse.

Thankfully, Night had noticed and used his tsundere ways to try and fix it. He threw another snowball at his shoulder. "I mean that, damn it." He looked away when he started blushing. "It's, uh, been a long day for me, too." He muttered some things to Blue that Dust couldn't quite make out, but he had his guesses.

"Dust, incoming!" Killer shouted at him.

Dust heard him too late and jumped when the snowball hit him. He playfully glared in the direction it came from. Dream. Luckily for Dust and unluckily for his new target, the latter had shifted his attention to Night and presented Dust with the perfect chance to strike. He quickly packed a snowball and threw it at him at full force.

It fell apart just a few feet away from him. Damn, he rushed himself a little too much.

Killer, Cross, and Axe all laughed at this. Night was too focused on Blue and Dream to realize what had happened. Dust turned to the trio, flipped them all off, and stuck his tongue out at them. "Yeah, yeah, let's see any of you do better trying to go that quickly." He struggled with his composure for that whole sentence and barely managed to finish before he started laughing, as well.

"Bet!" Cross challenged. He scooped up some snow, tried to pack it just as quickly as Dust did, then threw it at him.

Like Dust's, it disintegrated before reaching its target. It didn't even travel as far. "Shit." 

They all laughed and Cross flipped them all off while sticking his tongue out at them, as if he wasn't trying to keep a straight face the whole time.

Dust walked over to them and smugly grinned at Cross and Axe. "By the way, you two owe me and Killer a family-sized bag of chisps each."

All three of them were dumbfounded at this news.

"Wait, what? Why?" Axe began. A second later, his sockets widened and he gestured toward Blue and Night. "Did that little Blueberry flirt with our goopy skeleton?"

Dust's grin widened. "Yep." He chuckled while Killer celebrated their victory.

Cross smirked. "Alright, Dust. What did he say?"

He took a second to prepare to make Cross feel stupid before he summarized what had happened. "Blue mentioned something about dealing with Karens at work, mentioned a particular Karen who got embarrassed because she realized she was being an idiot, Blue said it almost made his day, Night asked if that meant it actually hadn't, then Blue said, and I quote, 'The fact that I'm here with you right now and just having a fun snowball fight certainly has.'" Dust crossed his arms triumphantly.

Cross and Axe stared at him with wide sockets and Killer smirked.

"Come on, guys. You lost the bet." Killer chuckled. "There was no way in hell Night would've been the one to make the first flirty comment." He gestured to Dust. "And Dust couldn't come up with something like that so quickly in a million years."

Axe looked down and sighed in defeat. "Damn it," he whispered. "Welp, guess we better get you those chisps as soon as we can." He smiled. "We might not be able to buy them right now, but I still have some money I pickpocketed from someone in one of the timelines for the original Undertale universe."

Dust smirked and chuckled. "As long as you know you gotta get those to us within a week."

Cross shrugged. "Well, if you ask me, I'm relieved you guys won the bet. Not that I'll name any names, or anything." He gave Killer a look as he slowly said that last part.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked innocently.

Dust squinted at Killer. "I think you know exactly why he's giving you that look, and to be frank, I agree with him for that reason." He pointed at him. "You know we can't trust you with money. You blow it on too many things you either never use or only use once. No way we'd wanna take that chance."

Killer laughed. "Well, that's why you leave me at the castle and then I leave while no one's looking to steal some money for more things I don't need and never use." He sighed fidgeted with his hoodie strings. "Okay, but seriously, I know I need to work on that. I think I've done that at least four times in the past month."

"At least you made progress," Axe muttered, and then smiled innocently when Killer glared at him in a playful manner.

"Are you idiots done over there? I need back-up!" Night yelled while the Star Sanses threw a barrage of snowballs at him, some being dodged and some striking their target.

Oh, so when Night's having a snowball fight, he's just fine with asking for help, but when he gets one of his tentacles twisted around the coils in a vending machine trying to get his chocolate bar that didn't fall, suddenly he forbids anyone from helping him and shatters some glass trying to free himself instead. Got it.

Memories of his disproportionate reactions to situations aside, Dust and the others rushed to their boss's aid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I know how to write a snowball fight? No. Can I try to write dialogue for people who are having one? I guess so, yeah.
> 
> In case anyone needs to know, a truncated icosahedron is what a soccer ball is, and a normal icosahedron is what you might call a d20. Yes, I looked up the names of these just for the joke.
> 
> This chapter was a little easier for me to write than the previous one, thankfully. Still had to force myself to stop constantly reading it over and over again and just post the damn thing, because perfectionism and anxiety (and... overthinking how I want to do future chapters). And chances are I'm going to reread it and then do my best proofreading, as always.
> 
> I hope everyone had a good time during the winter holidays, whatever you celebrate!
> 
> Final note, all of the numbers I was talking about before have now appeared~ I'll reveal what they are and their meanings in the end notes for the next chapter.


	4. Why So Quiet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dust and Error are sent to Underfell to give the Sans there an invitation to join Dust's family. It doesn't go over well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, for those of you who didn't see the author's note before, basically, I took a hiatus due to a decline in my mental health caused by quite a few factors. For a hiatus, that was probably really brief, but for now, heya, I'm back! :D
> 
> I hope I didn't screw anything up. ;w;" Out of everything I've written for this so far, this is the one that's given me the most anxiety about posting.

"You understand what I'm asking of you, yes?"

Yay. A question Nightmare still asks his little band of morons whenever they have to do even the simplest tasks. He goes over these things with them numerous times, so why bother asking to confirm they understand? If they don’t, it’s their fault! Filthy little abominations.

Nonetheless, Error expected nothing different, so he simply rolled his eye lights and answered, “Yeah, yeah. We get it. Just let us go already.”

All he cared about was getting his chocolate cake after all this was over. A ‘death-by-chocolate’ cake, as Nightmare put it. When he first saw it, it didn’t take long to realize why. Not only was the cake itself chocolate, but it also had milk chocolate icing, dark chocolate and white chocolate drizzles, and chocolate shavings. Four extra sources of chocolate?! Hell yes!

He was still reluctant to have to work with Killer’s little student, though. Killer was bad enough, for fuck’s sake. He just hoped Dust hadn’t surpassed his teacher in the ways of being an annoying little pest. Then again, he’s not supposed to interact with him much for this, right?

Error jolted and snapped back to reality when Nightmare gently poked his shoulder with one of his tentacles. He could just barely make out a smirk on his and Dust’s faces. Sadistic bastards.

Nightmare chuckled, and spoke slowly, “Alright. Just one more thing, then.” He smirked wider and questioned, “Tell me, do you remember what you told me about your first moments in the anti-void? You know, after gaining your memory of it back?”

Error tensed up, totally not in fear at all. “Y-Yes?” Where was he going with this?

“Good. Then you remember how much it terrified you and it eventually drove you mad. Now, let me cut to the chase.” Nightmare growled and then grabbed Error by the collar of his hoodie with one hand and slammed him into a wall. “If you give me any reason to believe you’ll hurt Dust like you hurt Killer, I’ll personally put you in so much agony that those will seem like warm and cozy memories by comparison.” Nightmare raised him higher up. “Do you understand?!”

Error wasn’t shaking in pure terror and wishing he could focus enough to make a portal out of there. Nope. And there’s no reason he’s glitching out really badly. “Y-yeah, I get it, I understand, now put me down!”

Nightmare laughed and dropped him. “Fine, then.” He opened a portal and gestured toward it. “On you go. Pay attention to the alley and tell me when to send Dust through.”

Error grumbled to himself as he stepped through. Once he was through, he made sure he was quiet enough to repeat what Nightmare said in a mocking tone without him hearing.

Then he walked to the ledge and gazed downward into the alley. As best he could, he reluctantly pulled up a quick view of the code in that area to assist him with seeing down there. Once he was sure it was safe, he signaled to Nightmare to send Dust through.

Nightmare nodded, then opened a portal in the alleyway. After Dust stepped through, Error could hear they were talking to each other, but couldn’t hear what they were saying. Something about coming back with a new recruit?

Wait, when was that ever mentioned?!

☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

After a few minutes of walking around, Dust finds the snowy clearing from a couple of days earlier. That snowball fight was so much fun… and it was too bad that was probably their only truce they would have for a while.

He remembered what he made a mental note of that day and looked across the street. Hey, the Grillby’s is still standing! Which was to be expected, but with AUs like Underfell, you never knew what was going to happen.

This would have to be the best place to look for the Sans in this AU. Shit, what nickname did Cross and Axe discuss for him? It was definitely a shade of red, wasn’t it? Scarlet? Cherry? No, those didn’t sound right.

Crimson, maybe? Yeah, that was it! Crimson. Still, they agreed they’d only call him that if he was fine with it.

Since this wasn’t a timeline where magic was outlawed, he took a shortcut over to the Grillby’s and walked in.

He looked around, surprised to see that it was much cleaner and quieter than it usually was in other pacifist timelines. There wasn’t any food or crumbs scattered around, no yelling, no fighting. Judging by those aspects alone, this was definitely better than that Underfell timeline. And that wasn’t the only thing he hated about that timeline. The Sans there was a piece of shit, too. That selfish, possessive, manipulative, insecure sorry excuse for a skeleton.

Just the thought made Dust shudder in disgust.

Back on the thought of Grillby’s, if this wasn’t an Underfell timeline, it would’ve been relaxing. Instead, something felt off. Did it have to do with how this Sans was feeling lately?

He shook his head and turned his attention over to the bar. The Sans was already here. Perfect.

He tried to ignore the looks he was getting from the other patrons of the establishment, but he couldn’t shake the discomfort he felt from their stares. Trying to focus on the task at hand once again, he stood beside this Sans and tapped him on the shoulder. “Is this seat taken?”

“Huh?” He jolted and turned to look at Dust, then narrowed his sockets. “And who the hell are you?”

This wasn’t going to go over well, was it? Dust chuckled and half-joked, “I’m not sure you’d believe me if I told you.”

This Sans wasn’t in the mood for jokes. He growled. “That ain’t good enough. Answer the damn question, n’ maybe I’ll let ya sit by me.”

Dust thought for a moment, then shrugged. “How much do you care about who sits here?”

“The only reason I give a shit is ‘cause it seems like ya ain’t plannin’ on keepin’ yer mouth shut.” He rolled his eye lights and glared at Dust. “And I can tell ya I ain’t lookin’ fer a conversation. Just leave me alone. I don’ want whatever yer sellin’.”

Wow, this was going to be a pain in the ass. “Last I checked, door-to-door salesmen don’t march into bars and try to advertise their products to random customers.” Dust sighed. “Either way, I’m not here to sell you anything.”

The other Sans growled. “Then tell me who the hell ya are and why yer botherin’ me!” He gestured to Dust’s entire body. “And explain why ya look like me, but way stupider and softer!”

Dust put his hands up and gestured for him to calm down. “Okay, okay, then let me talk.” He lowered his hands and quietly answered, “For who I am and why I look like you, I’m you from another universe called Dusttale. Which is why my nickname’s Dust.” He saw his counterpart tense up at that and paused for a moment before continuing. “We’re in an Underfell timeline right now, if you were curious about that. I came here because my boss noticed you were feeling-- or rather, you stopped feeling much of anything for some reason. So, he sent me here, 2 of my co-workers offered you the nickname ‘Crimson,’ and I was told to ask if you wanted ot be part of our famil-”

He held a hand up to Dust’s face. “I’m gonna stop ya right there.” He stood up, grabbed the collar of his shirt, and yanked him toward his face. He whispered, “I dunno who the hell yer boss is or why they were payin’ attention to that shit in the first place, but I ain’t letting ya take advantage of my emotional state.” What? “And don’t ya even think about calling me ‘Crimson.’ I’m Sans, damn it, and I’m stickin’ with it.” He let go of Dust and gestured to the whole bar and started raising his voice. “Seriously, are ya fuckin’ blind?! Take a look around ya! If you know so much about my universe or whatever bullshit, you’d know this shit ain’t normal!”

Dust thought about that. So, he was right about something being off. What happened, then? Why is everyone so quiet and calm? “I was wondering about that, but wasn’t sure what-”

“Yeah! I can fuckin’ tell!” Sans fell silent for a moment, then sighed and pointed at the door. “Go across the street n’ read that plaque on the boulder.” He teared up and immediately wiped his tears away, then grumbled, “Maybe then you’ll get it.”

Oh. Oh shit. So, there was a reason that was there. Dust stared at Sans before taking a shortcut out to the boulder. He walked over and read the plaque.

UNDYNE  
19XX - 202X  
STRONG IN LIFE, BRAVE IN DEATH  
WILLFUL IN SPIRIT, FALLEN IN BATTLE  
FIGHT SHE WILL, YIELD SHE WON'T  
JUSTICE WE'LL PURSUE, CORRUPT WE'LL CORRECT  
ALLOW HER REST, ALLOW HER PEACE  
-Fallen in the line of duty-

Wait… no, that can’t be right! And if she was really dead, why hadn’t Frisk RESET?

This would certainly explain the atmosphere in Grillby’s, and the looks they were getting during that snowball fight. Dust shrunk down. They disrespected the dead. Stars, of all places to take a break and have fun, why did it have to be here? How did he and the others never notice this?

“Shhh… brother. Not now.” Papyrus? “Help him first. You can explain to the others later.”

Dust hesitated for a moment, then relaxed and nodded. “You’re right… Thank you, Pap.”

He took a shortcut back into the Grillby’s beside Sans. “How?” Despite trying to calm down, he was still stunned and couldn’t think of anything else to ask.

“Tch. ‘Fallen in the line of duty,’ my ass.” Sans shook his head and growled quietly. “They’re jus’ tryin’ to cover shit up.”

Dust caught the drift and looked away. “Holy shit. I didn’t know about that, and I’m… I’m sorry for your loss.” He shifted awkwardly back and forth on his feet.

Sans callously rolled his eye lights in response. “I don’ need yer pity,” he grumbled. “But by the looks of it, ya really didn’t know.” He glared at Dust. “Hope ya see yer boss is definitely tryin’ to get you to take advantage of my emotional state. I ain’t joinin’ whatever bullshit yer tryin’ to get me into.”

Dust’s eye sockets widened and he furrowed his brows. He stumbled over his next words, “What? No, that’s not-”

“That’s exactly what he’s doin’!” Sans snapped. “Even if ya didn’t know, it doesn’t fuckin’ matter ‘cause yer boss probably did!”

At those last comments, Dust had to stop and take a deep breath. It’s okay. This Sans just doesn’t know Nightmare. He doesn’t know he’s actually trying to help. “He can tell what people are feeling, but he can’t tell why.” Regardless of Sans’s wishes on the matter, Dust sat by him. He sighed. “He really wants to help you, though. All he knew was things were looking grim in this AU, but I don’t think he looked into it too deeply.”

Sans stayed silent and pulled out his phone.

Dust thought for a moment, then pulled out a small scrap piece of paper and a pen and wrote down their numbers. He slid the paper over to him. “You don’t have to physically come with us, but if you ever want to talk, these are our numbers. Just know we take care of our own and at least consider it.”

No reaction, except a quick glance at the paper before looking back at his phone.

Right after, Dust felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out. Shit, a text from Error?

“time to go, star sanses are hrer”

By the time Dust finished reading, Blue ran in and then glared at Dust. He pointed a normal bone attack at him. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

Welp, Blue’s had a bad day. Dust’s not sticking around for that. He took a shortcut to the rooftop and ran over to Error. “Alright, let’s go, then.”

Error rolled his eye lights and smirked. “Guess you failed your dumb little mission.” He opened a portal back to the castle.

Dust flipped him off as he ran through. “At least I can spell ‘here,’ jackass.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALRIGHTY! So, those numbers! Here they are, best to worst:
> 
> 3 - A very good number to see! Signals that there will be a lot of fluff, cuteness, and/or more otherwise wholesome material in a vast majority of the chapter. Serious topics may be touched on or subtly hinted at, though. Or, one super-duper good thing happened that warrants more than a 7.  
> First appearance: Chapter 3, Blue remembers a customer who bought three cases of Ramen  
> 7 - An okay number to see. It's more good than bad, at any rate. You'll see this if something good happens later on, regardless of how things go at first, specifically according to the first character. There may also be a close call, such as a near-death experience.  
> First appearance: Chapter 2, Blue took seven minutes to run home in the rain  
> 13 - A bad number to see, but things could definitely be worse. Pretty much the inverse of 7; something bad happens later, regardless of how things went at first, specifically according to the first character. There may also be a sudden stroke of bad luck, such as someone falling down the stairs and needing hospitalization.  
> First appearance: Chapter 1, the Karen's total owed was $29.13.  
> 4 - No. No. Run. The whole chapter is nothing but angst, horror, pain, or otherwise negative material. Wholesome things may be touched on or subtly hinted at, but never the focus. Can also show up if one super-duper bad thing happens that's bad enough to warrant more than a 13. Examples could include betrayal or a death.  
> First appearance: Chapter 3, Killer mentions impulse-buying things four times in the last month
> 
> More info to help differentiate these numbers from others:  
> \- The number is spelled out, not in numerals (chapter 1 doesn't count for this, oops)  
> \- The number refers to inanimate objects and/or intangible objects, but never people or other living beings.  
> \- The number will always be somewhere at the beginning  
> \- However, if a number like this is also at the end, the following chapter carries significant importance  
> \- The number will always be directly stated, no math involved and nothing like first, second, third, etc.
> 
> So, if there's mention of 3 people or $13, that's not the number you're looking for. If you find mention of seven cookies or four brushes, that's likely the number you're looking for.


End file.
